Main menu

Tag Archives: Yas

A few weeks ago our amazing Japanese thru-hiking friend Yas came to visit. We first met Yas briefly on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) but we really got to know him while hiking hundreds of miles with him on the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). Here are some things you should know about Yas:

he’s a human GPS… seriously, this guy is a navigational miracle who does it all old school with a map and compass

he makes his own gear and is ultra/über/super lightweight

he’s fast as heck but also slowed waaaaaay down to finish the CDT with us

Now he’s thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) and is bombing it… he hiked from Georgia to West Virginia in just over a month. He’s a hiking celeb in Japan. His trail name on the CDT was “Rock Steady” and on the AT it’s “V8.” We bought him a 1/2 gallon of V8 to welcome him to our home!

Anyhow, we had an amazing weekend visiting with Yas. It was definitely surreal to see him doing all the usual thru-hiker things – carrying all he needed for months on end in 1 backpack, resupplying on junk food for the next stretch of trail, showering only once a week – while we were doing the “normal life” routine of working 9-5, living in a house and showering daily. Even though Dan & I are both really happy with our jobs, our house and our life, hearing about Yas’ experinces made us long for the trail…. oh trail fever!

But it was also fun being a tiny bit like Trail Angels and feeding Yas insane amounts of food, providing him with a shower & laundry, doing a whirlwind tour of DC, quizzing him about all his experiences and just generally soaking in all amazingness that is Yas…. until he had to head back to Harper’s Ferry 😦

P.S. We have to brag on Yas so much because he’s a little bit shy and absolutely modest about his many achievements!

We hope to host more friends hiking the AT in the future… if that’s you, please get in touch!